Mr Sensitive
by Silverflare07
Summary: Derek returns from a week long women appreciation retreat –Casey’s idea a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is ‘Dereka’ here t
1. Dye, Camp, and the Change of a Lifetime

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary: **Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author: **Silverflare07  
**Dedication: **To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

* * *

"Der_-ek!_" The cry that was becoming increasingly familiar to the members of the Venturi/McDonald household rang out once again. 

From their spots at the dinning room table George and Nora looked up from their respective paperwork and turned to face the eldest Venturi boy who was lounging in his chair in the living room. His back was to them but both parents could tell that a large smirk was forming on his face. They wondered briefly what he had done to Casey this time when the answer came flying down the stairs in a fit of rage.

"What is wrong with you?" Casey screeched as she stopped on the landing of the steps.

Nora looked up, ready to placate her daughter but her jaw dropped as she took in the sight before her. Casey was still in her pale purple bathrobe, her hair half dry and all...bright blue.

"Oh. My. G-" George's jaw joined his wife's as he looked at his stepdaughter.

Laughter from the living room brought both parents out of their shocked state. They turned to where Derek was laughing so hard that his chair was moving double the speed it usually went. Casey didn't find the situation nearly as amusing as her stepbrother.

"I am going to kill you!" She screamed as she launched herself off the steps and towards his chair.

"Whoa!" Derek jumped up and moved backwards a few steps, getting away from the threat that was Casey and her dangerously sharp nails.

"Casey!" Nora walked over to daughter and gently picked up a piece of her now blue hair.

"Derek!" George stalked over to his son. "What did you do to your stepsister?"

I, uh, gave her a new look. I was tired of her old one." Derek shrugged.

"You what?" George shook his head. "Derek I am sick and tired of this behavior. You apologize to Casey right this instant!"

Derek looked at Casey as sincerely as he could muster. "I'm sorry, Case. Sorry that you don't like your new look."

"Der-ek!" She lunged for him again but Nora put a hand on her shoulder and she stopped.

Derek started laughing again and didn't stop until George whapped him upside the head.

"This is not a laughing matter! How could you do something like this?"

"What?" Derek shrugged again. "It's a just a little hair dye. It'll grow out eventually."

Casey sank to the steps, her anger suddenly giving way to something else. "My hair..." She bit back tears. "Is blue. What am I going to do?"

Nora sat down next to her daughter and gave her a hug. "It's okay Case, we'll get it fixed tomorrow. You'll see, it'll be good as new."

George glared at his son. "You." Derek looked up from the scene before him. "Are not going to be doing anything for a very long time."

"What? That's not fair!"

"Neither is what you did to your stepsister. Up to your room right now! And you'd better start praying that I don't decide to take everything out of there except your bed."

Derek scowled angrily before pushing past Casey and storming up the stairs. George turned to Casey and Nora. "I promise Casey, Derek has gone to far this time and he will be punished for it."

Casey shook her head from her mother's embrace. "Not that it isn't nice to see Derek get what he deserves, but it's not going to make a difference. He'll do his time and then find something else to do to me."

George shook his head. "Not this time. I'm tired of him acting like he's in third grade. He's a senior in high school, not an elementary school troublemaker!"

Nora nodded. "Don't worry Casey, we'll figure something out."

Casey nodded, but was prone to disbelief when it came to George and Nora's talks about disciplining Derek. Nothing was going to get him to change and she seemed to be the only one who knew it.

* * *

"Taking the 'Woe' Out of Womanhood?" George looked up from the pamphlet that Casey had placed in front of him. "What is this?"

"It's a week long camp that's being held over Spring Break. It's designed to help women in today's world and I think it would do Derek some good if he attended it. It'll mostly be older women attending so there won't be any 'distractions'."

George opened the pamphlet, briefly looking it over. "Would they even allow guys to attend this thing?"

Casey nodded. "Yes. It says on the back that it's a great chance for men to go and get in touch with their feminine side." She saw George's look. "That just means that Derek will come back a little more appreciative of the female sex."

"I think he appreciates you just fine." He muttered under his breath and Casey bit back a laugh.

"Appreciating things other than our looks and cup size I mean."

George eyed the pamphlet again. "It does sound like a good idea. And Derek could stand to gain some appreciation for the women in his life." Casey nodded. "All right. I'll talk to Nora about it and we'll go sign him up for this thing."

"Yes!" Casey clapped her hands together and smiled. Her hair might have still been bright blue but she had an appointment at the salon in an hour so things were defiantly looking up.

* * *

"Hey Dad!" Derek greeted his father as he returned from hockey practice. Things seemed to have smoothed over from the night before, or at the very least, his father didn't give him a death glare when he walked through the door. "Where is everybody?"

George looked up from the couch where he had been reading the paper. "Nora dropped the kids off at a movie while she took Casey to get her hair done."

Derek cringed slightly at the mention of his stepsister. He was beginning to feel the tiniest bit guilty about doing something so permanent to her hair.

"You know, after you destroyed it."

Derek sighed, "Fine! You win! I'll go apologize to Casey about her stupid hair?"

"What was that about my hair?"

Derek whirled around to find Casey standing behind him, her hands on her hips and her hair back to normal...almost. There were still a few blue streaks scattered through her hair, giving it an almost accidental quality. They had been toned down a bit as well, and blended with her natural brown hair much better than the original bright blue would have.

"Whoa..." Derek whispered, remembering to catch is jaw before it dropped. Casey looked good with her hair like that. And not just good...she looked...hot.

"Yeah, sorry you're little plan didn't work out Derek." Casey told him, misinterpreting his whoa. "The lady at the salon couldn't cover up all the blue but luckily for you she could fix it so I no longer feel the need to hurt you as badly as humanly possible.

Derek was still trying to figure out what to say to that when the door opened and the rest of the family walked in. "So?" Nora turned to George. "What do you think of Casey's hair?"

George stood up and walked over to his wife. "I like it." He smiled at Casey as he wrapped Nora in a hug. "I think it looks very good on you."

"You know," Casey smiled slightly. "Me too. It'll take a little getting used to but..." She fingered her hair for moment. "I might even be sorry when it's all grown out." She shrugged out her coat and hung it up before beginning to climb the stairs. "Thanks for my new look Derek!" She called back to him, enjoying the shocked speechless look on his face. "And have fun at camp!"

"Camp?" Derek rolled his eyes and turned towards his father and stepmother, sinking into his chair. "I'm not going to camp. All that hair dye must have gone to her head."

George shook his head. "No. Actually, she's right. You are going to camp."

Derek looked up at his father, his expression disbelieving. "Please. I haven't been to a camp since I was 12. Unless you count that summer camp I helped Casey save a few years ago."

"Best summer ever!" Marti cried before climbing into her brother's lap.

"Well, here's your chance to catch up on what you missed." George told him, placing the pamphlet in his son's hands.

"Taking the 'Woe' Out of Womanhood. What the hell is this?"

"Derek! Language!" Nora reprimanded, gesturing to his youngest sister who was still sitting in his lap.

"That," George told him, "Is where you will be spending you spring break. It'll help you learn to appreciate the women in your life."

Derek's eyes narrowed. "I appreciate the women in my life just fine."

"You'll learn to appreciate more than just their looks and cup sizes then." George repeated Casey's words from that morning.

Derek's face darkened. "Casey." He muttered murderously. "I'll be right back Smarti." He picked up his little sister and placed her gently on the couch before running up the stairs.

"What the hell is your problem?" He demanded as he barged into her room.

"Hm?" She looked from her mirror and smiled sweetly at him. "Oh! You mean the camp?"

"Yes!"

Casey shrugged. "I thought you could use some...enrichment in your life."

Derek glared at her before smirking suddenly. "Well it looks like the joke's on you. You've just sentenced me to a week of seclusion with a bunch of babes. I guess I should be thanking you." He told her as he walked out of her room and turning to stand in her doorway. "So thanks Case, I'm sure I'll enjoy this trip."

Casey mirrored his smirk while standing and walking towards her door and he wondered briefly when she'd picked that up. "Right. You enjoy your week with woman who are all facing their _mid-life crisis_." A look of horror crept across his face and she grinned wider. "I never knew you were into older women Derek... Have fun then!"

"Fu-" Casey slammed the door in his face.

* * *

There's chapter one for you. I have this story pretty well planned out in my head in terms of what's going to happen, but I'm not sure how long it's going to be. It would probably be beneficial to plan it all out by chapter but _::shrugs::_ I'm a busy college student. Who has time to plan?

Hope you guys liked it. R&R and tell me what you think!

Come on, send me a smile!


	2. The New Derek

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary: **Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay? Dasey.

**Author: **Silverflare07  
**Dedication: **To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

* * *

"Smerek's coming home today! Smerek's coming home today!" Marti cried in joy as she ran through the house. "Smerek's coming home!"

Nora laughed and picked up the energetic 8-year-old. "Are you happy to be seeing your big brother again?"

"YEAH!" Marti threw her hands up in a cheer.

From the couch Casey smiled. "Even I'm excited to see if this past week had any effect on him."

Edwin dropped down onto the couch next to her. "It's been a nice quiet week though."

"Shut up," Lizzie told him laughingly. "You know you missed him."

Edwin shrugged. "Maybe a little."

They heard the sound of the car pulling into the driveway and Marti wiggled out of Nora's arms. "SMEREK!" She yelled as she ran and threw open the door.

"Smarti!" Derek picked up his little sister and swung her around. "I missed you, Smarti."

"I missed you too, Smerek." She giggled. "Did you have fun at camp?"

"Are you kidding?" He placed her on the floor. "I had the best time ever!" He turned to everyone else. "And how's my loving family?" He pulled Nora, the nearest to him, into a hug.

"We're...great." Nora told him, pulling out of the hug and looking slightly confused.

"And how are Edwin and Lizzie? My two favorite tweens!"

The 'tweens' shared a slightly disturbed look before turning back to face Derek. "We're fine..."

They continued to stare at one another for another moment before Derek opened his arms. "Well...? Where's my hug?"

Slowly, both Edwin and Lizzie raised themselves off the couch and walked over to him. Lizzie gave him a quick hug before backing away and allowing Edwin to take his turn. Awkwardly, he leaned over and gave his brother a loose hug. Derek scooped him up, holding him tightly.

"I missed you, little bro." Derek told him.

"I, uh, missed you, too..." Edwin squirmed uncomfortably in Derek's grip. He had never been this affectionate with his brother before and, honestly, it was creeping him out a bit.

Derek let him go quickly before turning to where Casey was sitting on the couch. "And how's my favorite stepsister, hm?"

Casey's smiled lightly. "I'm good. Thanks."

Derek took three giant steps over to the couch and scooped her into a hug tighter than the one he'd previously had Edwin in. The house turned deadly silent.

"...What are you doing...?" Casey asked her voice muffled slightly by the fabric of his shirt.

"I'm giving you a hug. But I'm definitely not feeling the love back. Didn't you miss me even a little?"

Casey tried as hard as possible to keep the shock out of her voice. "S-sure." She placed her arms around him in what had to be the most awkward hug of her life.

"Well," Derek let her go and grinned. "I'm going to go unpack. I have so much laundry I need to do, you wouldn't believe it!" He picked up his bag and climbed the stairs.

"Um...who was that?" Edwin asked, watching where his brother had just disappeared from sight. "I thought Derek was supposed to come home today."

"I think..." Casey started, a smile spreading across her face, "that was Derek!"

* * *

Casey woke up the next morning later than usual. It was her last day of spring break and, just like the last day of summer, this was the day that Casey made sure was just for herself. She was looking forward to treating herself to a nice manicure and shopping trip. She also really wanted to try the new smoothie place that had just opened in the mall.

Sighing happily at the prospect of a peaceful day, she made her way into the kitchen and was surprised to be greeted with the scent of bacon, pancakes, and syrup. She was even more surprised to be greeted by the sight of Derek at the stove cooking the pancakes.

"Morning!" He turned to greet her with a smile and she almost choked on her own spit at the sight of him in one of Nora's floral patterned aprons.

"M-morning." She told him, taking a seat at the island. "What are you doing?"

"Making my wonderful family some breakfast." He replied before setting a plate of pancakes in front of her. "And here's yours; plain, with butter, and..." He reached behind him and placed two red strawberries on top of the small stack. "Some fresh strawberries to top it off. Just how you like it."

Casey looked around at her family who were watching the exchange in silent shock. "Um...thanks, Derek. That's really nice of you."

He leaned in smiling and bumped her shoulder with his playfully. "Anything for my Casey."

Edwin choked on the water he had been drinking and George almost dropped his silverware. Casey's eyes had turned the same size as her pancakes and she was seriously beginning to consider Edwin's alien replica theory. Derek turned away, oblivious of his family's reaction, as Marti walked into the kitchen.

"And would my Smarti like some chocolate chip pancakes?" He asked.

"YEAH!" Marti cried as she climbed onto the stool next to Casey.

Casey breathed a sigh of relief as Derek put the possessive 'my' before Marti's name. Of course it was just a sibling thing. The shock at his new attitude must have been what made her wonder otherwise.

Nora walked into the kitchen, stopping short when she saw her eldest stepson. "Derek is making breakfast?"

George nodded. "Yup, custom made to order pancakes."

If Nora was shocked at this revelation she got over it very quickly. "Well than, I'll take two," She glanced at Casey's plate. "Like Casey's."

Derek nodded. "No problem!"

Casey watched as her family enjoyed a nice breakfast. Today was going to be a good day. She could just feel it.

"So..." Derek's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "What are you doing today, Casey?"

Casey looked up from her pancakes. "I was going to head to the mall. It's the last day of spring break so I'm going to enjoy it."

"Great!" Derek practically beamed at her. "Can I come with you?"

Casey looked confused. "You want to come with me? As in - actually, voluntarily - spend the day with me? This isn't a trick to get to the mall so you can make up time for all the babe-scoping you _didn't_ get to do this week, is it?"

Derek looked slightly horrified. "Of course not! First of all, babe scoping is insulting to women and it makes those women think less of the men. Besides, I thought we could use the quality time together. We hardly spend any time together as it is. I want to know what's going on in your life. I want us to be able to share things."

This time it was Lizzie who very nearly choked on her drink. Edwin tried his best to hide his grin as he thumped her gently on the back. Nora lifted an eyebrow at her husband who shrugged and returned to his breakfast. If there was one thing you learned from life with Derek it was that sometimes it was better not to ask. Casey was looking at her stepbrother in shock. Those words couldn't have passed from the lips of _the_ Derek Venturi. She turned back to Derek and saw the sincere look on his face.

"Sure." Casey told him, smiling. "We'll have fun."

Derek smiled again. "Great! When were you planning on leaving?"

Casey shrugged. "About an hour, I guess. I want to go get ready and then we can head out."

"Okay." He nodded. "That'll give me time to clean up from breakfast."

The same shocked look passed over everyone's face. Derek...offering to clean... "Derek," Derek turned to face Nora. "That's not necessary. You made breakfast, I'm sure we can handle cleaning up."

"Well..." Derek looked unsure. "Are you sure? You guys already do so much around here and it wouldn't take me long to clean up."

Nora shook her head. "We'll take care of it. You go ahead and get ready."

"Thanks, Nora!" He leaned over and gave her a hug before slipping out of the apron and heading to his room.

George and Nora exchanged impressed looks and Edwin and Lizzie, horrified glances. What had happened to Derek?

Marti looked up from her plate. "I want more pancakes!"

* * *

There's chapter 2! I hope you guys liked it. I'm so much fun writing this Derek, he's so funny! And he's only going to get worse from here on out. And next chapter is the Dasey shopping trip! That should be fun!

R&R! Let me know what you think.

Come on, send me a smile!


	3. Shop til You Drop

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary: **Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author: **Silverflare07  
**Dedication: **To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

* * *

Casey walked down the stairs to find Derek reclining on the couch watching TV with Edwin. He looked up as she descended the final steps and smiled at her. "Ready to go?"

Casey nodded, grabbing her purse and coat. "Yes. And, um...why is Edwin in your chair?"

Derek shrugged. "It's not my chair. It belongs to this family so Edwin has just as much a right to sit in it as I do."

Edwin looked up and caught Casey's shocked expression. "Yeah, that's pretty much how I responded too."

Casey shook her head. This new Derek was really going to take some getting used to. "Well...let's get going."

"Alright." He stood up and grabbed his leather jacket. "Come on, I'll drive."

Casey nodded, still slightly dumbstruck. "Okay. Thanks."

They climbed into Derek's car; George and Nora had gotten him his own car for his 18th birthday. She watched as he started the car and cringed as some of his loud music began to pour through the speakers.

"Sorry." Derek said as he turned down the volume. "Do you want to go get one of your CDs?" He motioned to her car with his free hand.

Casey shook her head, smiling slightly. "Nah. It's fine, just don't turn it up so loud please."

Derek grinned and pressed a button besides the clock. Instantly the rock music changed to the Postal Service's 'Such Great Heights'.

"How about we listen to the radio? Deal?"

Casey nodded. "Deal."

The drive to the mall was a silent one. Derek would occasionally ask questions but after Casey's 7th monosyllabic answer he gave up. She wasn't sure why she was so unwilling to open up to Derek. Maybe it was just that she still wasn't completely convinced that the new Derek wasn't just an act. She would need some hardcore evidence before she dared give him the buddy-buddy friendship he had been talking about at breakfast. They pulled into the parking lot and Derek parked the car.

"We're here." He announced.

Casey stepped out of the car and waited for Derek to join her before they made their way to the entrance. The mall wasn't overly crowded like it tended to become during Spring Break. It seemed that most of the teenagers in the area were out enjoying the sun on this day.

"Come on!" Derek threw a friendly arm around her shoulder, one of the first 'old Derek' habits she'd seen him display since he'd returned home. "Is there anything you specifically wanted to do?"

Casey nodded. "I've been meaning to get a few new outfits and I really wanted to try that new smoothie place in the mall."

"Okay." He stopped in front of a store. "How about this place?"

Casey looked up. They were standing in front of Rainbow, one of her favorite stores. "Yeah! This place is great!" She smiled happily before slipping out from his grasp and rushing inside.

Derek joined her a few seconds later and watched patiently as she looked at various articles of clothing. She put most of them back on the racks, but she did keep a few pairs of jeans and some shirts with her. She had just inspected, and returned, her eighth pair of jeans when Derek's voice caught her attention from the other side of the small store.

"What about this?"

She turned to face her stepbrother and was surprised to see him holding a navy blue summer dress. It was made to look like a Chinese styled dress, with a red strip across the middle, like a belt, and a red collar. There were cherry blossom markings starting at the left side of the belt and going up over the shoulder. She walked over to him and took the dress from his hands. She checked the size and was pleased to see that he had managed to grab her's. "Thanks Derek, I think I'll try this on." She added it to her slowly growing pile. She turned back to face her stepbrother. "I'm going to go try this stuff on now, okay?"

Derek nodded and took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the dressing rooms. "Have fun."

Casey nodded, smiling slightly as she walked in and locked the door. She donned a pair of jeans and studied herself in the mirror. Nodding in approval she was about to slip them off when there was a knock on her door.

"Casey?"

Casey stopped, the pants barely off her thighs. "Derek?"

"Aren't you gonna show me?"

"Show you?"

"You're outfit? So I can tell you what I think."

Casey's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, because I'm sure I'd _love _to know what you think."

"Aw, come on Casey! I won't be mean, I promise." Casey remained silent, trying to figure out if this was just a way for him to tease her. "You at least have to show me how the dress I picked out looks on you!"

Casey finally gave in. "Fine, just that one though!"

"Great!" Casey could actually hear the smile in his voice. "Try that one on next."

Casey nodded, pulling the pants all the way off. She shed her shirt as well and slipped the dress over her head. She took a look at herself in the mirror, making sure there was nothing obviously wrong with the outfit that he could tease her about. There was nothing that Casey could see. The dress actually looked nice on her, hugging her curves in a nice way. The colors even complimented her skin tone, making her very glad she wasn't pale.

"Alright," She announced, "I'm coming out."

She swung the door open to see Derek leaning against one of the support columns with mirrors on it to her right. She spun in a small circle, showing the dress off. "What do you think?" She asked, bracing herself for the sarcastic comment she was sure he wouldn't be able to resist giving her.

"That looks awesome on you!" He grinned at her. "I knew it would."

Casey took a step back in shock. "W-what?"

Derek looked at her oddly. "I said," He told her slowly, "That dress looks awesome on you."

"I know what you said," Casey finally remembered to not back away from Derek like he was crazy. "I just can't believe you said it."

"Why? It's not like I would lie to you just to make you upset." He shrugged. "That sort of thing would just be mean."

Casey wished she had a paper bag in case she started to hyperventilate. "Really?"

"Of course Casey." Derek pulled her into a one armed hug. "If you look pretty I'll tell you. I really like your hair by the way." He swatted playfully at the ponytail she had thrown her hair into.

Casey stepped back again, eyeing her stepbrother strangely. He had been so different since coming back. She hoped the change was permanent. "Thanks." She smiled. He had never been so sweet to her, and it was a pleasant change of pace.

He grinned back. "Anytime. Now come on, I know you brought more clothes than that in there with you."

Casey nodded and slipped back inside the dressing room. There was silence for a few minutes before, "Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to see this outfit too?"

* * *

Casey shifted uncomfortably and switched her bags into her other hand. After Rainbow they had gone to F.Y.E where both teens had made a purchase. Then it was off to American Eagle where Derek had talked her into getting an adorable pair of clogs. Not that she had needed much convincing. From there it had been off to Bath and Body Works to get some more of her favorite scented bubble bath. It was nice to have all this stuff, but it wasn't so nice lugging it all around the mall.

"Here," Derek took two of her bags from her, leaving her with just the small ones from Bath and Body and F.Y.E.

She looked at her stepbrother in mild shock. This new Derek was still a little unnerving, but she was defiantly getting used to him. "Thanks Derek."

Before he could respond a cry caught their attention. "Derek! Casey!"

They turned to see Kendra walking towards them. "Hey guys! Doing a little last day of vacation shopping?"

Casey nodded. "Yeah. I needed a few new outfits and Derek offered to come along."

Derek nodded and held up the bags. "She shops as much as you do." He laughed lightly. "I can't believe she isn't broke all the time."

Casey shot him a mocking glare. "I don't shop like this all the time!"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, I'll give you that."

Kendra watched the exchange with interest. "Well...it looks like you two are getting along better."

Derek nodded again. "Yup. Casey and I are bonding!" He pulled her into a half hug.

Kendra raised an eyebrow as Casey simply giggled and rolled her eyes. "Well...I'll let you get back to you're, uh, bonding then. Have fun."

"Oh we will." He told her before dragging Casey in the direction of the food court.

Kendra could only watch in surprise as they walked away. It wasn't until they were well out of sight that she realized that Derek had never offered to carry any of bags for _her_.

* * *

There's chapter 3! I hope you guys liked it. The next chapter is the new Derek's first day of school! How will the student body of react to the new Derek Venturi? Or more importantly how will his hockey coach react when his star player wants to quit the team because it's too violent?

R&R! Come on, send me a smile!


	4. Welcome Back to School

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary: **Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. . . ? Dasey.

**Author: **Silverflare07  
**Dedication: **To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts  
_

* * *

"This has to be the single best smoothie I have _ever_ had." Derek announced before taking another sip of the Peaches N' Silk smoothie he had gotten from the Tropical Smoothie Café Casey had insisted they go to. "I can't believe you never shared these with me before!"

Casey shook her head, laughing silently at his reaction to the drink. "I tried. You never wanted anything to do with something I liked." She saw him open his mouth, probably to defend himself, so she continued. "It's not like I really showed any interest in anything you did either, so we're probably even."

Derek was silent for a moment, swallowing the smoothie in his mouth before speaking. "But still...this stuff is amazing!"

Casey grinned. "Yeah, it's always been one of my favorite drinks. It's always been able to calm me down when I was nervous, or make me feel better when I was upset. My dad used to make smoothies all the time. I think that's where I get my addiction to them."

Derek smiled. "Your dad is really cool," Casey began to nod in agreement, "But he can be totally oblivious."

Casey looked up in surprise. "What?"

Derek nodded. "When I called him, you know, that time he came for dinner. He honestly had _no_ idea that you were upset. He thought everything had been completely fine. Anybody with a brain could have seen that something was bothering you." Derek shook his head. "He's cool, but oblivious."

Casey nodded, surprised that Derek was talking about this. He rarely spoke of his good deeds, especially when they involved her. "Yeah, he can be sometimes. But he tries and I love him for it."

Derek grinned at her again and raised his smoothie. "To a successful shopping trip!"

Casey laughed at his sudden change in topic. _I guess Derek couldn't be a completely different person or he just wouldn't be Derek..._ She raised her smoothie glass to meet his. "To a successful bonding trip!"

Casey had never seen a bigger smile on Derek's face.

* * *

Edwin looked up from the couch as Casey and Derek walked through the door laughing. He raised an eyebrow at Lizzie who was sitting next to him before pausing the game they were playing. "You guys have fun?"

Casey nodded. "We did." She turned to Derek as she took off her coat. "We're still on for tonight right?"

"The movie marathon? Of course!" Derek took her coat from her hands and hung it, and his, on the hooks by the door. "We'll start after dinner, that'll give me some time to clean my room."

This statement caused George, who had just walked into the room, to stop in his tracks. "I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood. Did you say you were going to clean your room?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, the place is a total pigsty. Call me when dinner's ready." He told them as he disappeared up the stairs.

Lizzie looked at Casey. "You guys were gone for hours. What did you do?"

Casey shrugged. "Walked around the mall. I got some new clothes and other stuff."

"You walked together? _Without_ fighting?"

Casey looked at her family; even George seemed interested. "Yes." They all wore disbelieving expressions. She rolled her eyes at them before making her way up the stairs, "Fine. Don't believe me."

They watched as she disappeared from sight before Edwin rounded on Lizzie. "Ten bucks says Derek ditched her the minute they got to the mall."

Lizzie shook her head. "She would be mad if he'd done that. I say she's got some kind of blackmail on him."

George laughed. "Right, like Derek's ever been caught doing something that could be used as blackmail."

"Maybe they're just becoming friends." Nora joined the conversation as she walked into the living room.

They all looked at each other in silence, considering the idea. "You know what that means, right?" George asked.

". . . Finally, some peace and quiet!" Edwin and Lizzie said before they all laughed.

* * *

Casey walked out of her bedroom Monday morning with a yawn. She and Derek had been up late the night before watching different movies. She'd fallen asleep on the couch at about 1 a.m. and Derek had finally shut off the movie and gotten her up long enough to make it to her room. She made her way to the bathroom and knocked on the door, fully expecting to hear Derek shout to her to go away.

"Come in!"

It took her sleep-addled brain to register the request, but cautiously she opened the door. Derek was standing at the sink, fully dressed, brushing his teeth. He spit out the toothpaste into the sink. "Morning, Casey."

"Morning, Derek." She stepped into the bathroom, reaching for her toothbrush. "You're up early."

Derek nodded and began flossing. "Yeah. I wanted to make sure everyone had time to use the shower so I got up earlier." Before Casey could reply he threw the floss away and walked out of the room, "All yours." He told her as he closed the door.

He nearly ran into Edwin when he turned around. "Hey, little bro!"

Edwin raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

Derek looked bewildered and turned his head to look at the bathroom door before turning back to face Edwin. "What was...what?" He sounded genuinely confused.

Edwin shook his head. "_That_?" He gestured to the bathroom. "You just let Casey have the bathroom!"

Derek shrugged. "I'm done in there and it's her turn after me." He gestured to where the bathroom chart was supposed to be hanging. "That's the schedule we came up with, isn't it?"

Edwin didn't have an answer so Derek continued into his room. Lizzie joined her stepbrother in the hallway a few minutes later and tried to figure out why he was just standing there. Casey singing in the shower wasn't _that_ uncommon.

"I think..." He said suddenly, startling her, "that this new Derek is for real..."

* * *

The halls of the high school were as busy as they always were. Emily shook her head wondering why she'd thought today would be any different. Something in her gut was telling her that something strange was brewing, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was exactly. This, for Emily Davis, was simply not acceptable.

So she went off in search of her best friend. Casey always had something going on in her life. Maybe some Casey-drama, there was bound to be some, would take her mind off of whatever it was she didn't know.

She found said friend at her locker, getting out some stuff for class. "Hey."

Casey closed her locker and turned to face her friend. "Hey, Em! Did you enjoy your last day of Spring Break?"

Emily nodded. "Of course! Sheldon and I hung out by my pool all day."

"Oooh." Casey smiled. "Sounds like things are getting serious."

Emily tried to shrug nonchalantly but she couldn't quite hide her smile. "Yeah. My dad's even threatening me with 'the talk'."

Casey laughed. "I'm so glad for you Em."

After a few seconds of silence Emily couldn't take it anymore. "So...?"

Casey glanced at her. "So, what?"

"How was your spring break? Did you enjoy not having Derek around?"

Casey shrugged. "It was actually pretty nice."

When it became clear that her friend wasn't going to elaborate Emily tried again.

"How was Derek when he got back? It doesn't look like he tried to harm you..." Emily pretended to search for signs of bodily damage.

Casey laughed. "Chill, Emily. He was totally cool with it. He even said he had a good time."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "He did? Wow…there must have been some premid-life crisis girls that snuck in there."

Casey shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

Emily was intrigued. "Oh. And how do you know?"

Casey grinned. "Just call it a hunch." She suddenly shivered. "I hate how cold it gets in here! They always blast the AC at ridiculous levels." Casey looked longingly at Emily's long sleeves. "I forgot my jacket at home today too."

Before Emily could sympathize with her friend and try to get her back on topic a very familiar leather jacket found it's way onto Casey's shoulders. "Here." A voice from behind them said.

Both girls turned to see Derek. "You can wear mine if you're cold. See you at lunch." And then he was gone.

The entire hall had gone deathly silent. Never in the time since he'd gotten it had anyone seen Derek Venturi willingly hand over his leather jacket to _anyone_. Especially not to the stepsister he lived to torture.

"Oh. My. God!" Emily squeaked and just like that the silence was shattered. Everyone started talking at once and Casey could feel all eyes on her.

Her face contorted into embarrassment and she tried to shrink herself inside the jacket, while contemplating on how to answer Emily's endless stream of questions.

* * *

"Hey dude." Sam walked up to his friend, his hand held out to give him a high five. "Glad to have you back."

"Sam!" Sam was startled to find himself pulled into a hug. "I missed you."

Sam broke out of the hug, taking a good-sized step back. "I, uh, missed you too." He looked at Derek. Something was _off_ about his best friend, besides the fact that he had just pulled him into a hug.

"Did you have a good spring break? Oh man!" He cut off Sam's answer. "I'm so sorry I didn't call you Sunday. But Casey and I spent the day shopping and then we had this movie marathon and I completely forgot."

Sam took another step back. Who the hell was this person? "It's cool dude, I was helping my mom with something anyways."

"Oh that's good. I didn't want you to think I didn't care about you or anything."

Sam wondered whether Derek was going to lift up his pant legs and show him red high heels. "Yeah...Of course not. Listen, coach wanted me to remind you about today's hockey practice."

Derek nodded, "Yeah, I'll be there."

Sam nodded, still weary for his friend. "Great. Now come on, we need to get to class."

Derek's eyes widened. "You're right! We can't be late on the first day back from Spring Break!"

That's when Sam finally realized what had been off about his friend, at least visually. Derek was carrying..._books_. He'd call Edwin later and see about that alien theory the kid had been going on about for the past few months. He was snapped out of his reverie by Derek grabbing his arm and dragging him towards their classroom.

"Come on Sam! We're going to be late."

* * *

Neil Carson looked at his hockey team as they skated onto the ice. He'd given them spring break off so that they could rest after the particularly brutal season. He smiled in approval as, without being told, the boys began to do their normal warm up routine. Everyone was there except-

"Coach?"

Neil turned to look at his star player. "Why aren't you on the ice Venturi?"

"That's the thing." They watched Mikey get slammed in a body check and Neil saw Derek wince out of the corner of his eye. "I've got to quit the team."

Neil had been playing and coaching hockey for almost 40 years and he had _never_ had the breath knocked out of him quite this bad before. "Excuse me?" He sank down onto the bench, sure he'd heard incorrectly.

"I'm sorry coach. It's just too violent. I can't condone it."

Neil found himself becoming short of breath. Was this hyperventilating?

"Do you need a paper bag?" Derek asked. "Casey always needs one when she starts to hyperventilate."

Neil looked up at Derek. "McDonald doesn't have anything to do with this, does she?"

Derek shook his head. "No! Casey doesn't really like the smell of hockey clothes after a game but other than that she couldn't care less!"

"Then why are you quitting?"

Derek sighed. "I'm sorry Coach, really I am. But it's just too violent."

Neil sighed. "I can't change you're mind, can I Derek?"

"I'm afraid not."

He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "All right Venturi. I guess you're excused from practice then. We'll have to find a new captain though."

Derek turned from the door. "What about Sam? He knows just about everything I do."

Neil shook his head. "I'll keep that in mind. But Derek?"

Derek looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"We'll miss you."

Derek smiled. "Thanks Coach."

Then he closed the door and was gone.

* * *

There's chapter 4! And now you know, Derek has given up hockey. I hope you guys liked this chapter. And I just want to set everyone's mind at ease. Derek is NOT gay! I could never do that to my poor Der-bear! He's just extremely metro. And I do mean extremely metro!

Tune in next time to watch as the butterflies start to flutter for Casey and Derek talks a bit about his time at the camp!

R&R! Come on, send me a smile!


	5. Butterflies and Lifetime Movies

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary:**Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author:**Silverflare07  
**Dedication:**To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

I'm so sorry this took so long to upload! It's been written since I uploaded chapter four but I was waiting to get it back from my beta reader. Due to certain extenuating circumstances, she couldn't beta it for me and finally just told me to upload it without it being betad. So I apologize if there are any mistakes, this chapter hasn't been betad._  
_

* * *

"Okay." Emily sat down across from Casey at Smelly Nelly's. "You are going to tell me _everything_ that has happened since Derek came back from his camp retreat."

Casey shrugged and picked at her salad listlessly. Emily noted that she still hadn't taken off Derek's jacket, despite the many whispered comments that had been floating around all day. "I don't know exactly. He came back from this retreat and he just...was this totally different Derek."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "How different?"

"Em he just gave me his jacket."

"A momentary lapse in his Derek-ness."

"Huh?" How was it that there was still stuff she didn't understand about her best friend.

"Maybe he just forgot that he was supposed to hate you, I mean he's been away from you for a week." Emily tried to reason.

"He gave me a hug."

"Maybe he felt obligated to hug the family he might have missed just the tiniest bit while he was away."

"He wanted to go shopping on Sunday so we could 'bond'."

"Oh." Emily couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"Yeah," Casey halfheartedly took a bite of her salad. "Oh."

"Hey guys!" Derek's chipper voice broke the two girls out of their thoughts as he sat down next to Casey. "What's wrong with you two?"

Casey looked up at her stepbrother. "Oh nothing. We were just talking. Shouldn't you be working?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, but we're slow," He gestured to the surprisingly nearly empty restaurant. "The weirdest thing happened today. I think my coach and I had a bonding moment."

Both girls gave him a blank stare. "Huh?"

"Well after telling him I had to quit the team-"

"WHAT?" Both girls cried.

Derek nodded, taking a bite of Casey's salad but both girls were to shocked by his news to reprimand him. "Oh yeah, I quit the hockey team today. But that's besides the point."

"No!" Emily looked distraught. "Hockey is a part of who you are!"

Derek shrugged. "It's too violent." He gave Casey a strange look as she choked on her drink but continued on. "But as I was saying, he went lifetime movie on me."

Casey raised an eyebrow. "He admitted that he was battling a fatal illness?"

Emily laughed and Derek smiled lightly. "No. He was just all, 'we'll miss you Derek.' And 'I really can't change your mind, can I?' It was weird."

Casey shook her head but Emily decided to press the matter some more. "He's right though! The hockey team will be nothing without you! You're their captain!"

"Sam will make as good a captain as I did."

Before Emily could retort two teens walked into the restaurant and sat down. "Gotta go, guys. We'll talk more later."

Casey and Emily watched as Derek walked over to the girls and politely took their order.

"What in the world did you do to him Casey?"

Casey shook her head. "I don't really know Em." She grinned. "But I kind of like it." At Emily's look she added. "Not about the hockey of course. That's a travesty to our school."

And even though she'd said it jokingly she couldn't help but feel sorry that Derek had given up the only thing he'd ever really been passionate about.

* * *

Casey slammed the front door. She had just returned from school and she was more than willing to never go back again if it meant she could avoid the ridiculous questions she'd been bombarded with that day.

_What was that about yesterday?_

_Did Derek really let you wear his jacket, or did we all have the same bizarre dream?_

_Who is the pod person who resembles Derek?_

_I can't believe he did that! I mean he's Derek and your...you."_

That comment had really gotten to Casey. So what if she and Derek were polar opposites? Did that mean he had to be nasty to her 24/7? She sighed, that was how it had been for a long time though. _But not always._ A voice in the back of her head spoke up. _He's had his sweet moments. Remember the summer camp?_

Casey shook her head. She didn't need to be thinking about moments like that. Not after spending the day denying, or skillfully avoiding, the most asked question.

_Are you and Derek dating?_

She slumped down onto the couch, not even bothering to put her backpack upstairs. How could half the school think she was dating Derek? He was her stepbrother for crying out loud! And a few momentary lapses in judgment –which was how Derek had always defined them when she'd asked- didn't make up for the fact that he had made her life almost unbearable for the past three years.

"Here."

Casey jumped in surprise as a voice spoke. She opened her eyes to Derek standing in front of her, holding a smoothie. "What's that?"

Derek handed her the drink. "A smoothie." At her confused look he continued. "I know you had a bad today. I thought a smoothie might make you feel better."

Casey smiled. "Thanks Derek." She leaned over and gave him a hug.

Derek wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her a little closer. "Your welcome."

Casey was surprised to find that being in Derek's arms wasn't nearly as awkward as it had been last time. It actually felt comfortable, safe. It was different from being wrapped in a hug by her mother or Max or Sam. And Max and Sam never smelt this good either. Her senses were on overload and she pulled back from the hug. "T-thanks Derek."

He grinned. "Your welcome." He told her again before standing up. "I'm going to go finish my homework, I'll be in my room if you need me."

Casey nodded, to wrapped up in her thoughts to be shocked at the thought of Derek doing homework. She was only vaguely aware of him heading up the stairs as she grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V., trying her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.

* * *

Nora knocked on her stepson's door and waited for his call of 'come in' before opening the door. She was greeted with the sight of Derek at his desk, reading one of his textbooks. Before she could be surprised about that, however, his room caught her attention.

It was spotless.

She remembered George mentioning briefly that he'd heard his eldest son say he was going to clean his room but neither she nor George had believed him. After all, even Derek would only put so much effort into a prank. Seeing his room, however, was beginning to change her mind. She sat down on his bed and waited until he had given her his full attention.

"So...how are you?"

Derek shrugged. "Okay I guess." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I gave Casey a hug today and she got all weird. Have I done something wrong."

Nora's eyebrows shot up. "Weird?"

Derek nodded. "I hope she's not mad at me. I just wanted to make her a smoothie because she'd had a bad day. She told me how her dad always used to do that and I just thought..."

Nora wondered when her daughter had begun telling Derek personal things about her life before the merging of their families. She also wondered what else she had told him, but that was something she would have to ask Casey about someday. For now she was more concerned about her eldest stepson. He'd been so strange ever since he'd returned from that camp. It was too much to be prank, even from Derek.

"So..." a light bulb went off in Nora's head. "You never did tell us what happened at the camp."

Derek shrugged again. "We talked a lot. I had no idea that sharing your feelings could be so invigorating. After some of those talks I felt so much better, I could hardly believe it."

That didn't sound too unusual. "Anything else?"

Derek looked thoughtful again. "They kept talking about childbirth. I even had to watch a birthing video." Derek shuddered. "I had _no_ idea you guys went through so much. I mean I knew that you guys had babies, but it just looks so painful." He shuddered again. "I don't think I could stand it."

Nora was sure her shock was written all over her face. Casey was right, that camp had worked wonders on Derek; he was a whole other person. "All right Derek." She stood up and made her way to the door. "Thanks for the talk."

Derek smiled at her before grabbing his books. "Sure. It was nice talking, we should do it again."

Nora shook her head as she closed his door. Maybe it had worked a little too well.

* * *

George walked into the living room and was surprised to see Casey and Derek on the couch. That wasn't entirely surprising, and neither was the fact that they were both wrapped in the same, large blanket with a bowl of popcorn resting between them. They had been getting along much better the past two weeks. No, it was the lifetime movie that surprised him the most.

"What are you watching?" he asked.

"Lifetime movie." They replied in unison, never taking their eyes from the T.V.

"Oh." George watched as they mindlessly reached for popcorn, still not removing their eyes from the movie. "I've seen this one before. He sobers up in the end, but only after his girlfriend dies in a car crash while she was trying to come get him from a party he wasn't supposed to be at in the first place."

"Aw!" Both teens finally unglued their eyes from the screen.

"Way to spoil the movie, Dad!"

George grinned. "Oh come on, that's how they all end."

Casey and Derek shared a look before Casey sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

George's chest puffed out in mock pride. "I'm always right, I'm a lawyer."

They laughed and Derek got up from the couch, grabbing the bowl of popcorn. "You want to help me make dinner?" His question was directed towards Casey.

She nodded, smiling. "Sure."

They got up and made their way past George. He watched them enter the kitchen and could hear them getting things out. He had to admit, he did like the peace and quiet that seemed to have settled over the house. It seemed to have affected everyone. Lizzie and Edwin no longer needed to fight to get any attention, and Marti wanted to be just like her big brother so she had mellowed down.

Life with the new Derek was nice...

"Hey Dad!" His son's voice floated over to him. "Do you know where Nora's apron is? I don't want to mess up my clothes!"

But George wanted his old son back.

* * *

That's chapter 5. Chapter 6 is next with more butterflies for Casey. Also, Derek and Kendra are going to have the dreaded post break up talk, for real, and Kendra will come to a startling realization. Plus Edwin gets an apology from Derek, but it wasn't how he'd always thought it would be...

No, for those of you who are wondering, Kendra's not going to be some bitchy ex-girlfriend who is going to try and sabotage everything. She honestly doesn't strike me as that type of person, especially after their sort of post break up talk in Misadventures in Babysitting.


	6. Talks and Basketball

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary:**Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author:**Silverflare07  
**Dedication:**To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to upload too! It's been written since I uploaded chapter four but I was waiting to get it back from my beta reader. Due to certain extenuating circumstances, she couldn't beta it for me. But she finally got around to it and now it's up for you to enjoy!_  
_

* * *

Edwin whistled as he walked into his room. While his room was nowhere near the disaster Derek's had been before, it certainly looked that way now that Derek's was clean. Edwin shook his head. Whatever had happened to his older brother at that camp must have been pretty intense. He had _never_ seen Derek react even remotely like this, even towards Marti. He had always been sweet to Marti, but this was a new extreme.

He flipped the light switch and was surprised to see a folded letter sitting on his bed with his name on it. Curious, he walked over and unfolded it, surprised to see Derek's handwriting staring up at him.

_Dear Edwin,_

_I wasn't sure how to tell you this because I know you're not much a touchy-feely person - _("Neither were you a few weeks ago." Edwin muttered.) -_ so I was afraid a straight-out talk would be too awkward. This is really hard for me to do but I know that it has to be done. I hope you don't think less of me for putting this in a letter but, like I said, I was worried you would think it was awkward in norma- talk. But it needs to get said, so I'm just going to come out and say it_. - "Please, please don't be coming out of the closet!")

_I'm sorry Ed._

_I'm sorry for all the times I've taken money from you without even really asking. I'm also sorry for never paying you back. I don't know exactly where you get all your money from - _("And you're never going to.") -_ but I do know that it's yours and you should be allowed to spend it on whatever you want and that it shouldn't be used on my needs. I have a job and I'm perfectly capable of paying for my own things. _

_I also want to apologize for always using you as a servant. It was wrong of me to force you to get my things for me and clean up my messes. I'm a grown person and can take care of myself. You need to know that I _never_ viewed you as my slave, you were just my little brother and I thought that entitled me to treat you like that. I realize that I was wrong and I'm so sorry. _

_I'm sorry I was never the greatest older brother in the world. I know I didn't even come close to winning tolerable brother of the year. I really do love you though, and would never let anyone hurt you, I hope you know that. You're my baby brother and I'll always be here to take care of you when you need it. You know you can count on me for anything that you need. I'm here for you. _

_I just wanted you to know that. If you want to talk you know where to find me._

_Love your big bro,_

_Derek_

Edwin looked at the paper in shock. He wasn't sure what to make of the letter in his hands. It was definitely Derek's handwriting, but if he hadn't been living with this new Derek for almost a month he wouldn't have believed his brother would have ever pulled this one together before. He and Derek had always had a basic relationship. Derek ordered; Edwin served. Sure it grated on Edwin's nerves every now and then, but deep down Edwin had always known that Derek cared about him.

He opened his door and was surprised to find Derek standing at the bottom of the steps. Derek's eyes flickered to the letter still clutched in Edwin's hand and he smiled. "Good! You got my letter."

Edwin nodded, sitting down on the top step. "Yeah, uh, thanks..."

Derek looked uneasy. "Is there anything you need to tell me?"

Edwin nodded. "Yeah, why do you look like you're walking across a field of mines?"

Derek's uneasy look melted into one of surprise. "I just thought you'd have a few things to say to me about how I've treated you. I was bracing myself for the worst. Not that I don't deserve it!" He added quickly after seeing Edwin's disbelieving stare.

Edwin shook his head. "Derek, you're my brother."

"Yeah but still..."

"And if anything had really bothered me I would have done something about it."

"But I know I always intimidated you so you could never try and do anything about it."

Edwin rolled his eyes. "Okay, yeah, you intimidated me, still do, but if it honestly bothered me that much I would have just sent Lizzie after you. She could have taken you."

Derek smiled, feeling relieved. "Thanks, bro."

Edwin shook his head, but couldn't stop the smile that was creeping across his face. "You're welcome. So, no more creepy apology letters, okay?"

Derek laughed. "Deal." He turned and started towards his room. "Now that I know how you'll handle it I'll just come talk to you in person!"

Edwin's eyes widened. "_What?!_"

* * *

"Kendra! Wait up!"

Kendra turned and was surprised to find Derek moving towards her quickly. She stopped walking and waited for Derek to reach her. "Yeah?" She and Derek were on good terms, but it was unusual for him to just come to her.

"Do you have some free time?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah? Why?"

"Could we maybe talk? But not here."

Kendra looked around the empty hallway. School had ended about ten minutes ago but she'd had to stay back to talk to a teacher about an extra credit assignment she needed in order to pass English. "This place is dead, Derek, anything we have to say is going to be safe here."

Derek looked around as well. "I guess..."

Kendra shook her head, smiling slightly. "What's up?"

Derek suddenly looked nervous. "I, um, thought we should have that whole post break-up chat I kept trying to avoid."

Kendra almost lost her eyebrows in her hair. "What?"

"Well, it was wrong of me to try and avoid it. And you deserve better than that. I'm ready to talk now though."

Kendra looked understandably confused. "But didn't we already have this conversation? Remember, you were tied to a chair and I left you there as punishment for avoiding me?"

Derek nodded, cringing slightly. "Yeah...but that wasn't really a talk. It was more of me trying to keep you happy so you'd untie me. Not very fair to you; not at all."

Kendra rolled her eyes, but decided it was probably best just to have this talk again. There was no guarantee that this new Derek wouldn't start crying on her if she refused. "Okay, I know why we broke up. You're so not a relationship guy and I am so not a relationship girl."

"And it just wasn't working." Derek finished for her.

Kendra nodded her head in agreement. "Besides, you were in love with somebody else." The words slipped out before she had a chance to censor herself.

Derek's eyebrows shot up. "W-what?"

Kendra looked guilty, but realized it was too late to take it back now. "Don't get me wrong, Der, I know you honestly liked me. But I also know there was someone you liked more."

Now it was Derek's turn to look guilty and Kendra knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about. "Kendra..."

"It's okay." She assured him. "You like this girl _a lot_ but you knew you weren't ready to be with her. You liked me and thought you'd give a real relationship a try."

Derek looked horror stricken. "I-I-" He seemed to be at a loss for words. "I'm sorry if I made you think I was just using you."

Kendra shook her head. "I didn't say that!" She thought back. "Okay, so maybe that's what I made it sound like, but I don't believe that. It's possible to like more than one person at a time, ya know."

Derek nodded. "Thank you for having this talk with me."

Kendra shrugged. "No problem. You seemed to need it so..." She grinned suddenly. "Are you going to at least tell me who the other girl you like is?"

Derek paled. "Uh..." He tried to smile lightly. "I think you already know."

Kendra nodded. "I do. But I want to hear you say it, and I think you need to say it out loud too."

Derek looked at the ground. "It's not important."

Kendra shook her head. She was going to see this one through, for Derek's sake. "Come on, Der-bear," She used her old nickname for him. "I think you owe me that much."

Derek sighed. "You're going to hate me."

Kendra shook her head. "I doubt it."

Derek sighed again. "It was Casey."

Kendra nodded. "I knew it."

Derek gave an exasperated sigh. "Then why did you make me say it?!"

Kendra smiled. "Because you needed to. It's not a crime to like her, Derek."

"But she pretty much hates me, Kendra."

Kendra shook her head. "She doesn't hate you. She probably has every right too, but she doesn't. Instead of pulling her pigtails like a third grader, try being nice to her. That's what you've been doing for the past few weeks, and it seems to be working out pretty well."

Derek smiled. "Thanks. I feel much better now." He gave her a quick hug before walking away, probably heading for home.

Kendra shook her head; the thickheaded boy was finally coming around. Although why he decided to have the "real" post break up talk almost two years _after_ their break-up she couldn't figure out.

That must have been some camp...

* * *

"I'm home." Derek called as he made his way up the stairs. When no one responded he tossed his backpack onto his bed before making his way back downstairs. Still finding no one, Derek made his way to the kitchen to grab a snack. As he was filling a glass with water he heard the steady thump of a ball being bounced. Curious, Derek looked out the back door and was surprised to see Casey try and make a shot. He smiled as the ball hit the board behind the net and bounced off to the left.

He opened the door and Casey looked up from where she was picking up the ball. "Hey." She said breathlessly.

"Hey." He nodded in greeting. "What are you doing?"

Casey looked from the ball in her hands to the basket and back to Derek. "I don't know," She sighed. "There just hasn't been enough...guy-stuff going on lately." She tossed the ball and missed spectacularly again. "But I'm not doing a very good job." She laughed good-naturedly.

Derek caught the ball on the rebound and tossed it in, sinking the ball without a problem. Casey was surprised to find that she was glad that his time at camp hadn't affected his actual ability to play sports. She caught the ball he had just thrown and shot again. The ball bounced off the rim and almost whacked her in the face. Luckily she managed to catch it before it made actual contact. She looked around the ball and smiled sheepishly at Derek who was grinning from behind his drink.

"Okay...so I'm doing a terrible job."

Derek laughed. "Would you like me to teach you?"

Casey nodded. "Please."

Derek set down his glass and walked towards her. "First things first," He moved her to the right about three steps. "Try shooting from directly in front of the basket. It's usually easier from there."

Casey nodded and threw the basketball again. It sailed just below the net, hit the pole, and bounced back into Derek's waiting arms. He suppressed another laugh. "Okay... a little more force." He handed her the ball again.

Tongue sticking out in concentration, Casey used all her force to throw the ball. It sailed straight over the fence and landed with a splash in the Davis' pool.

"Why am I being bombarded by basketballs?" Emily stuck her head out her backdoor and yelled to her friends. "Is this something I should be worried about?"

Derek shook his head. "No. I'm just trying to teach Casey how to play basketball."

Emily easily fished the ball out of the pool and tossed it to Derek who caught it with ease. "Yeah, well good luck with that. You must have the patience of a saint."

Casey stuck her tongue out at her friend who simply smiled in return. "Much as I'd love to stay and watch mission impossible, there's a test tomorrow that I have to study for. Unlike you," She jerked her head at Casey, "I can't just wake up and know all the answers and unlike you," she gestured to Derek, "I care. I'll see you guys later." With that she disappeared into her house.

Derek shook his head at the retreating form of their friend before passing the ball to Casey. "Try again, and use a little less force this time." Casey shook her head. "Come on. Just bend your knees a little and use the force of straightening up to carry the ball."

Casey did as instructed and they watched as the ball hit the rim and bounced back to them. Casey sighed dejectedly and picked up the ball, tossing it to Derek. "I give up. Emily was right, this _is_mission impossible."

Derek laughed and dropped the ball. "No it's not." He walked over to her and positioned himself behind her. "Just bend your knees a little like this," He bent his own knees and waited for her to bend so she was mirroring his position. He moved his face so that his cheek was next to hers and lifted her arms into the correct position. "Then as you push with your legs," He began to push, forcing Casey to do the same. "you throw the ball, but don't use too much force or it'll end up in Emily's pool again."

He did the motion with her once more before getting the ball back and handing it to Casey. "Try without me."

Casey nodded and, tongue stuck out in concentration again, tossed the ball towards the net. It hit the rim, circled around it a few times, then dropped in.

There was shocked silence for a moment before Casey let out an excited shriek. "I did it!" She cried before launching herself into Derek's waiting arms. "I actually did it!"

Derek smiled down at her and she realized how close their faces were. And Derek's seemed to be getting closer. Why wasn't she more freaked out about this? This would be an opportune moment for Casey to be freaking out. After all, Derek's face being an inch from hers was_not _an everyday occurrence. But she couldn't seem to move, in fact, she didn't really want to move; which was the strangest part of all.

Derek jerked back suddenly, his face flushing, as if he was just realizing what he'd been doing. "I, uh, I've got to...to..." He began to back away quickly. "I've just got to go!"

Casey blinked as she watched her stepbrother race into the house. _What the hell was that?!_

Shaking her head, Casey picked up the basketball, desperate to keep her mind on anything besides what had just happened. She took a deep breath and, using the technique she had just learned, took a shot.

The ball bounced off the rim and rolled past Casey into the grass. Casey blew out an exasperated breath. _Damn!_

* * *

There's chapter 6. I'm not sure how thrilled I am with the way Kendra and Derek's talk went, no matter what I did I couldn't seem to get it to work right. But I really wanted it to happen because I thought it would be a funny way to show Derek's new sensitive personality. Plus it was a nice way to let you guys know that Derek likes Casey (not that we already didn't) without forcing anyone to take any immediate action.

Tune in next time to watch as Derek tries to give Lizzie some sensitive brotherly advice on her boy problems and then get his first failing grade since he's been transformed!

Can you believe this fic is almost over? Only a couple more chapters left!


	7. Boy Troubles and the Begining of the End

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary:**Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author:**Silverflare07  
**Dedication:**To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

I'm so sorry this took so long to upload! My poor beta reader is so busy that she doesn't have much free time to devote to fixing the errors in my stories. Lord know she tries so hard though. Chapter 8, if she can get it beta'd shouldn't take nearly so long to be up though. Thank you guys for being so patient with me.

* * *

"Ugh!" Lizzie slammed the door and stormed past the nearly deserted living room.

Derek looked up from the T.V. and watched as the youngest McDonald stomped up the stairs. He winced as a door slammed shut and turned off the T.V. before heading up the stairs. He was the only one home at the moment and he was going to figure out what was wrong. She was his baby sister, after all, and he would be there to comfort her when she needed it.

"Lizzie?" He knocked gently on the door. "You okay?"

"GO AWAY!" Lizzie shouted through the door.

"Liz, come on." Derek pleaded. "It's better to talk about these kind of things."

Her door swung open. "What?" She snapped at him, "Did you learn that at camp?"

Derek nodded, completely missing her sarcasm. "Yeah. It really helped me to talk about things, and I know it'll help you."

Lizzie's eyebrows shot up into her hairline but she let Derek into her room anyways. He sat down at her desk while she sat on her bed. "So," He put his hands behind his head. "What's wrong?"

"It's Jamie!" She cried, falling backwards onto her bed in a fashion that was so similar to Casey Derek couldn't help but smile.

"What's wrong with you and Jamie? I thought you guys had been getting along really well since you discovered you liked him."

"We were! Except now he's being all weird."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Define weird."

"He doesn't want me to hang out with any of my guys friends anymore. Do you know he gave me crap for hanging out with Edwin!"

"He did, and don't use the word crap. You're a lady; not a garbage man."

"What?" Lizzie shook her head. "Never mind. I just...I don't know what to do."

Derek shrugged. "It sounds to me like he really likes you, he's just a little insecure. He probably feels threatened because you're around all these other guys all the time. Guys are like that sometimes around girls they really like."

Lizzie groaned. "Why doesn't he just talk to me then! And honestly, he's jealous of Edwin!"

Derek made a face. "What!?" She cried. "What's that face supposed to mean?"

"Look, you and Edwin spend a lot of time together. You live in the same house, you're technically not blood related, and he _is_ a Venturi and therefore quite a catch."

Lizzie scoffed. "Just because you're in love with Casey doesn't mean I'm in love with Edwin."

Derek shook his head and stood up. "I never said you were in love with Edwin." He made his way to the door, stepping out. "You did."

Lizzie's eyes widened. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

Derek sighed and sat back down. "Listen, it's okay. I'm just saying that Jamie is probably a little insecure, that's all."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Just let him know you're just friends with those other guys. Especially Edwin."

"Especially Edwin? I shouldn't even have to defend my relationship with Edwin!"

"Maybe not, but if Jamie's feeling insecure the best thing you can do is just to reassure him. If it really becomes an issue we'll talk more then."

"But Edwin and I? I mean what's wrong with Jamie?"

Derek shrugged and stood up. "Maybe he sees your friendship and is just reading too much into it." He walked to the door, turning to face Lizzie once again. "But maybe he's not."

Lizzie watched as her eldest stepbrother shut her door.

_What!?_

* * *

"Alright class, I've graded you're tests from a while back. I'm sorry it took so long to get them graded and back to you."

Mrs. Stevenson, their English teacher, walked down the rows, handing each student their test. "I'm pleased to inform you that the grades were, over all, rather good. Aside from a few misfires," here she looked over at Ralph and Derek, "the class did very well. I'm glad you were able to grasp the concept of Hamlet."

She placed a paper on Emily's desk. Emily looked down at it, "An 80!" She smiled. "That's a relief! I thought I was going to fail this thing for sure."

Casey smiled at her best friend, glancing at her own test. "I knew you could do it. Shakespeare isn't that hard to understand."

Emily glanced at Casey's test as well. "A 98? Do you ever fail at anything?" She laughed to show she was joking. "I mean, I'd settle for just less than perfect."

Casey laughed too. "Hey!" She managed between giggles. "A 98 isn't perfect."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Close enough." She turned towards to Derek. "How - hey, are you okay?"

Casey looked over at her stepbrother and was surprised to see him very pale. He was staring at his test in horror. "Derek?" She asked.

"I...I..." He looked like he was going to be sick. "I _failed_!" He whispered, as if he was saying a dirty word.

Emily and Casey both raised their eyebrows. "So?" They asked together.

"So?" He shrieked, his voice jumping an octave that made both girls hold back giggles. "This is terrible! I'm never going to get into a good film school if I fail!"

"Derek," Casey shook her head. "You have _never_ cared about your grades before."

"Well then don't you think it's about time I start?" Casey opened her mouth the respond but Derek rushed on. "You have to help me Casey!"

"Huh?" Both girls said.

"Please!" He was all but begging her. "Come on, you're really smart! If anyone can help me, it's you."

Emily clucked her tongue. "I dunno... Even Casey isn't a miracle worker."

"Em!" Casey reprimanded her friend, although the effect was dimmed somewhat by her laughter. "Come on, I mean he's right here!"

Derek looked offended. "Come on guys!" He whined. "I know I haven't exactly been the best student lately-"

"Ever." Emily interjected.

"Fine, ever." Derek agreed. "But I really don't want to fail my senior year. You've got to help me Casey!"

Casey shook her head. "Alright, I'll help you. But you need to relax. One bad test grade is not the end of the world."

Emily's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, if there was one phrase I _never_ thought I'd hear you say it would be that."

Casey turned to look at her friend. "What?"

Emily shook her head. "This," she gestured to where Derek was still panicking about his test, "is you on any other day."

"What? I am so not like that!"

"Yeah you are." More than half the class answered for Emily.

Casey looked around the room incredulously while Emily tried to hide her laughter. "Okay," She said finally, "But I still don't think I'm that bad."

"Oh man, what am I going to do!" Derek wailed.

"Am I really that bad?" Casey asked her friend.

"Well..." Emily glanced to the floor, biting her bottom lip. "Just a little."

Casey sighed and looked at her stepbrother again. "That has got to change."

"Casey!" Derek wailed again, this time earning stares from their classmates. "You have to help me!"

Casey shook her head. "I know, Derek. We'll get started first thing after school."

Derek immediately brightened. "Great! Thanks!"

Whispers spread like wildfire throughout the classroom. When Casey caught the word leather jacket being tossed between a group of girls she blushed and sank lower into her chair. Emily patted her back in an attempt to help, while Derek continued to smile brightly, completely oblivious to the chatter in the classroom.

* * *

"This has got to end!" Edwin cried, flopping into on of the dinning room chairs. "It's really starting to creep me out."

"Agreed." George nodded, pacing before them. He, Nora, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti had gathered in the dinning room for a conference about Derek.

"I enjoy the peace and quiet around the house," Nora started, "but even I miss the old Derek. Life's just not as interesting without him stirring something up."

"He tried to give me boy advice that I'm _still_recovering from!" Lizzie cried, glancing at Edwin out of the corner of her eye.

"I miss my Smerek!" Marti cried, launching herself at her father.

"What are you talking about Marti?" George asked. "He's still the same 'Smerek' he always was with you."

Marti crossed her arms and pouted. "Yeah, but now he shares it with EVERYBODY. It used to be just a Smerek and me thing. Now he's even that nice to Casey."

"Now Marti," George picked up his youngest daughter. "There's nothing wrong with him being nice to Casey."

Marti shook her head. "He's supposed to be nice to her in their own way, like when he activates the force shield. Not in the way he's nice to me. That was supposed to be especially for me!"

Everyone looked at Marti and wondered, not for the first time, if there was really only an eight-year girl living inside her head.

Nora shook her head. "Back to the problem at hand. What are we going to do about Derek?"

Edwin shrugged. "What do you do about any creation?" The door opened and Casey walked in. "Talk to the creator."

"Hey guys," Casey greeted her family. "Why are you all home so early?"

"Listen, Casey," Nora began gently. "We need to talk to you about Derek."

"Hm?" Casey took a seat next to her sister. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Edwin cried jumping up in exasperation. "That's the problem."

Casey looked confused, so Lizzie elaborated. "We're all tired of this new Derek, Casey. We want the old one back."

"What are you talking about? This new Derek is great!"

"No he's not!" Marti cried. "I miss my old Smerek!"

"I miss him too." George confessed. "I agree with Nora about the peace and quiet once in a while, but this is too much."

"We think," Nora tried to brace herself for her daughter's reaction to her next words. "That maybe your camp idea was a mistake."

"What?" Casey asked in disbelief. "That camp was the best thing that ever happened to him and you all know it!"

"Hey Casey!" Derek came bounding down the stairs, and leaned over the railing. "Where's your lavender scented bubble bath? It's been a rough day and I just want to relax."

"U - under the sink." She managed to spit out.

"Thanks!" Derek was gone just as fast as he had come and the five other members of the Venturi/McDonald family turned to face Casey.

"Okay," She agreed. "It was totally a mistake. What are we going to do about it?"

Edwin pulled out the binder that he and Lizzie used for their observations. "We're going to snap him out of it."

"How?" Casey asked.

"That's...what we're trying to figure out."

"Alright," Casey nodded. "I'm in.

"And I'm going to need some more bubble bath."

* * *

There's chapter 7. Stay tuned for chapter eight where Lizzie, Edwin, George, Nora, and even Marti try to snap Derek back to his old self. Will they succeed? Or will it be up to Casey to undo the mess she accidentally made?

Okay guys! You've been such wonderful reviewers, seriously...I couldn't have asked for anyone better. My goal is to get to 200 reviews with this fic.

Help make my day guys, R&R!


	8. Plans A through E

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary:**Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author:**Silverflare07  
**Dedication:**To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

By the way, have I mentioned how much you guys rock! Seriously, my only goal for this fic is to get over 200 reviews and you are all making that happen! I couldn't believe the amount of feedback I was getting in the beginning, but I appreciate it so much. So I just wanted to take the time to tell you guys how wonderful you are, and how much your reviews mean to me. Keep on rocking!

Oh, and I just took a guess at Derek's favorite hockey team.

* * *

_Plan A: Tempt him with something he _can't_ refuse_

"Alright," Edwin said into his walkie-talkie, "Operation set Derek straight is a go!"

"Edwin," George's voice came back to him, "Why are we using walkie-talkies?"

"Because," Edwin explained to his father, "they're cool."

"Just be grateful he didn't make us use stupid codenames." Lizzie spoke from where she was eyeing Derek's door.

They heard the beginnings of what was sure to another Dashboard Confessional marathon and Lizzie turned to Edwin. "Tell him it's time."

Edwin nodded. "Got it." He pressed the button on his walkie-talkie. "This is Middle Bear to Papa Bear," He ignored Lizzie's incredulous look. "Come in Papa Bear. Do you read me?"

There was silence than, "Yes Edwin, I'm here."

"Good, the eagle has landed so we'll leave the rest to you."

George stepped out of Casey's room shaking his head. "I still don't see why all of this was necessary."

"Trust me," Edwin told his father, "it most defiantly was."

Lizzie rolled her eyes but otherwise choose to ignore Edwin's dorky antics. "Just get in there and get him back to normal!"

George nodded and they watched as he knocked on his eldest son's door. "Derek, open up!"

There was nothing for a few moments, and then the music was shut off and the door opened to reveal Derek. "Yeah Dad? Was the music too loud? Because I can turn it down or just use my iPod."

George shook his head. "No, the music was fine. I actually just wanted to ask you something."

Derek beamed up at his father. "Sure, go ahead!"

George leaned against the doorframe and tried his best to look nonchalant. "What are you doing Saturday night, say about 8-ish?"

Derek looked thoughtful, "Nothing I think, why?"

George pulled his hand from behind his back to reveal two tickets. "Because I just happened to come across two tickets to the Oiler's game." Derek took the tickets from his father and studied them. "Look at where they're at, any closer and you'd be sitting on the bench with your favorite team!"

Derek looked thoughtful for a moment. "Dad..."

George looked at his son expectantly. "Yes Derek?"

"Thanks, but..." He handed the tickets back to George. "No thanks. Hockey's not really my thing anymore. It's way too violent."

With that he shut the door in his poor, shocked father's face and there was complete silence before Dashboard Confessional started playing once more.

"Darn it." George snapped his fingers and turned to the two middle children. "What's plan B?"

oOoOo

_Plan B: Scare him into his old ways with girly movies galore and tears_

"Hey Derek," Nora walked into the kitchen, "you busy?"

Derek looked up from his sandwich and shook his head. "Nope. Why?"

"Well," Nora sat down at the island and smiled. "Since Casey and Lizzie are both busy I was hoping you wouldn't mind keeping my company during a movie marathon. Georgie usually does it when my two are busy, but he had to work on a case today."

Derek stood up from the stool, grabbed his plate, and headed toward the living room. "Sure, what are we watching?"

"Breakfast at Tiffany's, Beaches, Hope Floats, the Notebook, the Breakfast Club, Ever After, Pretty Woman, and, my personal favorite, While You Were Sleeping."

Derek eyed the stack of movies. "You want to watch...all of them?"

Encouraged by his slightly less than enthusiastic tone Nora nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Won't it just be great?"

Derek flopped down onto the recliner and took a bite of his sandwich. "It'll be long." He said finally. "It's a good thing I've got no homework to do."

Nora popped in the first movie and pressed play before going over to sit on the couch. "Trust me, Derek, it's going to be great!"

Three movies later Derek turned to see his stepmother in tears. "Nora!" He cried, "Oh Nora, please don't cry." He jumped up from his chair and moved to sit on the couch next to her.

"I-I-I'm sorry," Nora managed to get out between sobs, "It's just that this movie gets me every time!"

Derek put a comforting arm around his stepmother. "It'll be okay, you know this movie has a happy ending."

"I know!" Nora all but wailed. "But the pain that this girl is going through," She gestured wildly to where Sandra Bullock was wearing a heart break expression on the T.V. "It...it just makes me so _sad_!"

Derek nodded "I know, guys can be real jerks. Look, why don't I go run and get us some ice cream, huh? Then we can finish up the movies and cheer at the happy endings!"

Derek jumped up and grabbed his car keys from the coffee table. He paused the movie and turned to Nora. "Now you wait right here. You wanted a movie marathon, and we're going to have it! Complete with ice-cream." He smiled at her and was out the door.

Nora immediately stopped crying and snapped her fingers. "Oh well," She sighed and grabbed a Kleenex to clean her face. "Looks like it's on to plan C."

oOoOo

_Plan C: Reintroduce him to his old favorite hobby_

"Hey Bro!" Edwin slid up to his brother. "I've got a great idea!"

Derek looked up from his homework, giving his brother his full attention. "What is it?"

"Remember my friend Teddy?" Derek nodded. "Well he just got this amazingly, hideous lizard from his aunt and uncle. I mean it is seriously gross."

Derek raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Is there a point to this story?"

Edwin nodded. "Teddy says he'll let me borrow it as long as I promise not kill it."

"And?"

"Well...wouldn't it be sweet if Casey, say, woke up with it on her pillow one morning."

"Edwin!" Derek gasped.

"I know, I know," Edwin cut his brother off. "Too amateur. But that's where you come in! Think of all the possibilities! Casey hates lizards, and this thing has to be the single most ugly lizard to ever enter Canada! It's perfect!"

Derek shook his head. "Sorry bro. No can do."

Edwin looked shocked. "What?"

"I'm not going to waste my time pranking Casey. She's a nice girl and doesn't deserve to be treated that way. You'd do well to stop pulling pranks on people too. You're getting too old for that."

"B-b-but..." Edwin gaped at his brother like a fish out of water.

"Seriously Edwin," Derek grabbed his books and headed for the stairs. "I love you, but... you need to act a little more mature."

As soon as Derek was out of sight Edwin sighed and snapped his fingers. "I guess there's always plan D.

oOoOo

_Plan D: Appeal to his inner male, after all, it has to still be in there somewhere_

"Oh. My. God!" Lizzie cried, sounding distressed as she walked down the stairs and into the living room.

Derek looked up from the T.V. and gave his youngest stepsister a concerned look. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that something is wrong. More Jamie troubles?"

Lizzie shook her head. "No!" She dropped a stack of magazines onto the coffee table before him. "Look what I found in Edwin's room!"

Derek leaned over and took in the decent sized stack of _Playboy_, a very nearly naked blonde girl staring back at him. "Wow..."

"I know! It's so disgusting! What in the world is his problem?"

_Tell me he's a growing boy and to mind my own business. Please, please, please!_

"You're absolutely right!" Lizzie's face fell. "We're going to get rid of these and I'm going to have a talk with him the second he gets home. Don't worry Liz; he's not getting away with looking at this derogatory material. It's an insult to women everywhere!"

He shut off the T.V. and marched up the stairs, probably to go rehearse the speech he was planning on giving Edwin. Seconds after he disappeared Edwin opened the front door and stepped into the house, shooting Lizzie a questioning glance. She shook her head sadly and snapped her fingers.

Edwin sighed and looked down at the magazines. "What am I supposed to do with all these stupid magazines now!"

oOoOo

_Plan E: Smarti cuteness never fails!_

"Smerek?" Marti poked her head into her brother's freakishly neat room.

Derek looked up at his little sister. "Yeah Smarti?"

"Can I talk to you?"

Derek sat up and patted the spot next to him on his bed. "Of course, come here."

Marti calmly walked into his room and hopped onto his bed, crawling into his lap. "Smerek, some of the kids at school are being mean to me."

"What?" He looked down at his little sister in alarm. "What are they doing to you?"

Marti scrunched up her face and got ready to pretend to cry. "They call me names because I still talk to Daphne. They don't believe me when I tell them she's really real."

Derek hugged his little sister. "It's okay Smarti, I believe you. You just ignore what all those kids are saying, okay?"

"But Smerek!" Marti's voice rose an octave. "They call me names and make me really sad. And they tell the other kids not to play with me either. They call me a freak!"

"You're not a freak Smarti," Derek consoled his little sister. "You're a creative, intelligent, and beautiful girl. Those other kids are just jealous. So just ignore them and they'll stop eventually."

Marti shook her head. "I tried that already Smerek. I need you to beat 'em up!"

Derek's eyes opened in shock. "I can't do that Smarti. Violence doesn't solve anything. I'll tell you what; tomorrow I'll come down to your school and talk to your teacher with you. She'll get them to stop."

Marti's eyes widened. "No!" At Derek's strange look she quickly continued. "I mean that's okay Smerek. I'll just ignore them."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Okay Smarti," He took on the 'stern tone', "what's going on?"

Marti dropped her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Okay Smerek, you caught me. I'm not really having any problems at school."

Derek grinned. "I figured as much, but then why would you ask me to beat them up."

"I was hoping it would bring back the old Smerek. I miss the old Smerek."

Derek pulled his little sister into a tight hug. "Don't miss me Smarti. I haven't gone anywhere."

Marti sighed and pulled out of her older brother's embrace. "Okay Smerek." She made her way to the door. "Good night."

Derek smiled brightly at her. "Nite Smarti."

Marti sighed again as she pulled his door shut. She looked up at Edwin and shook her head sadly. Edwin and Lizzie both snapped their fingers while Marti attempted to do the same.

"So...on to plan F?"

oOoOo

_Plan F: ...has yet to be figured out_

"Hey Casey?" Derek knocked on her bedroom door and waited to hear her yell 'come in' before entering her bedroom.

"What's up?" She asked, turning away from her computer.

"You said you would help me study for the English test." He reminded her, holding up his copy of _Heart of Darkness_.

Casey nodded, slightly disappointed. If he still wanted to study then he definitely wasn't back to the old Derek. "Sure. What do you need help with?"

"Everything." He told her as he sat on his bed. "But before we do that, I need to talk to you."

Casey raised an eyebrow, confused. "About what?"

"About us."

There was a strange sensation in her stomach, the same one she'd gotten when they'd played basketball in the back yard. "What about us?"

"I...I had a talk with Kendra and she said some things that got me thinking. And if there's one thing I learned at camp it's that we need to talk about our feelings otherwise they just build up until we can't deal with them anymore."

The strange feeling in Casey's stomach grew and she had a pretty good idea of where this conversation was headed. She just wasn't sure if she was ready to have it.

"So I think we need to talk about this because you're smart and I'm sure you've noticed it too."

"N-noticed what?" There were butterflies in Casey's stomach, but she still couldn't figure out if they were the good kind or the bad kind.

"This, this whatever it is that's between us. I don't know that I can say it's been there since day one, but I'm willing to bet it's pretty close to that. Whatever it is, I...like it and I hope you do too."

This was all happening too fast. Casey didn't even know what she was supposed to do now. Every thought in her brain was going a mile a minute and she couldn't seem to think about anything properly. The shock at how casually Derek was able to bring this up had almost completely numbed her and she couldn't think of a single appropriate response to the situation. But somewhere in the back of her shocked mind she realized that this was _not_ the way she wanted this conversation to happen. And she needed to get as far away from there as she could.

"I...I just remembered that I have to go talk to Emily about something!" Casey jumped up and didn't even bother to look back as she scurried out of the room and down the stairs.

She was out the door and over at the Davis' before Derek could process what had happened.

He blinked at the vacant spot that Casey had recently occupied. "I can't say I wasn't expecting that." He told himself. "Casey's just going to need some time to calm down. We can talk more about it later."

With that thought in mind he reached over and grabbed her English notebook. Her notes, at least, would be able to help him study since she obviously wouldn't be able to.

oOoOo

"Emily, help me!" Casey cried desperately, clinging to her best friend.

"Back up." Emily told her, calmly removing her hands. "What happened?"

"Well, remember that evening when Derek and I were playing basketball a while back?"

Emily nodded. "Vaguely."

"I think...Derek almost kissed me that night."

"WHAT?!"

"Well," Casey fidgeted nervously in her seat. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but he was so close and then he sort of freaked out and ran inside."

Emily didn't seem to have any words.

"And things have been a little weird since then, but it wasn't that bad. But all of a sudden he walks into my room and says we need to talk."

"So?"

"About our feelings?"

Emily blinked.

"About my feelings about our relationship, or rather the potential relationship we might have!"

Emily's jaw dropped. "No way! What did you do?"

"Are you kidding me?" Casey almost laughed. "I bolted and ran over here as face as my chicken legs could carry me."

Emily sighed. "So I'm guessing the whole 'Get Derek Back to Normal' thing you were telling me about didn't work."

Casey sighed and sank down onto Emily's bed. "No. And I miss the old Derek. The new Derek was nice for a while, and it would be nice if he showed up from time to time, but I don't want him like this all the time. And I certainly don't want to have the conversation he was trying to have with the new Derek."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "And what? You wanted to have it with the old Derek?"

Casey sighed again and placed her head on her knees. "You know Em, I think I do."

Emily's eyebrow's shot into her hairline. "Seriously?"

Casey looked up at her best friend. "Yeah. I mean, my goal when I sent him to that camp wasn't to change him completely. Just to make him a little nicer. I liked Derek for who he was," She groaned and flopped down on her back. "And I should never have tried to change him. That's the lesson in all of this, isn't it?"

"Probably." Emily told her friend, sitting on the bed next to her and patting her leg lightly. "So before we can even begin to tackle the question of you're feelings for each other we need to tackle the problem of getting Derek back to normal."

Casey sighed once more. "I don't know how to do that Em. We've already gone through plans A-E and we don't currently have a plan F."

Emily looked at her friend in sympathy for a few seconds before inspiration struck. It was brilliant, it was fool proof, and, with any luck, it would kill two birds with one stone.

"Casey," Emily had to work very hard not to squeal at her own genius. "I think I just figured out Plan F!"

* * *

There's chapter 8! Tune in next time as Casey puts Emily's plan into action. Here's a hint: The people at school are going to see a lot more Casey than they usually do, and Derek's not sure if he likes it. But will it be enough to get him to snap back to normal?

Only two more chapters after this, guys! Stick with me because we're almost there!

R&R! I love to hear what you think!


	9. Plan F

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary:**Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author:**Silverflare07  
**Dedication:**To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Have I mentioned lately how hard you guys rock? No lie. You. Are. The._Best_. –gives everyone giant digital hug-

* * *

"I don't know about this, Em." Casey eyed herself in the mirror. "And if it doesn't work I'm going to look like an idiot."

"Relax." Emily told her, running a brush gently through her hair so she wouldn't ruin the curls. "This is definitely going to work."

Casey eyed her appearance once more. She had managed to avoid Derek the rest of the evening by hiding at Emily's. She had called Lizzie and requested that she bring over a very specific change of clothes and her make-up for the morning. Lizzie had brought all the items requested and, after being told of Emily's grand Plan F, had agreed to get Edwin and Marti to help her keep Derek from trying to get to Casey.

So that's how Casey found herself wearing her old Babe Raider outfit on a Monday morning, with Emily doing her hair and make-up to look extra nice.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

Emily nodded. "You said that he reacted to it the first time."

Casey nodded. "But I never said he reacted well. He made it sound like he was going to be sick."

Emily waved a hand in front of her face. "That's a classic boy avoidance tactic. It means he thought you looked hot but didn't want you to know it."

Casey shook her head. "I hope you're right. But, uh, what exactly is the plan again?"

Emily sighed, shaking her head. "You walk down the hallway like Miss_Thang_, Derek sees it and goes completely mad with lust then snaps back to his old self!" Emily smiled brightly. "If there's one thing that didn't go away it would be his hormones."

"Um... Can you please never use the phrase 'mad with lust' ever again? Especially when referring to Derek and I."

Emily laughed. "I guess I could do that. Pucker." Casey did as she was instructed and Emily applied some lip-gloss. "But trust me Casey, even the nicest guy...well, the nicest straight guy, can only keep their hormones in check up to a point."

"Are you sure you don't just want me to jump him?" Casey muttered sarcastically.

"Well...if you're offering..."

"NO!" Casey cried. "I can't do that! I'm not even completely sure I want to do that!" Emily gave her a look. "Okay," She sighed. "I know that's what I want to do, but not until he's the old Derek again. I'm afraid this new one will sit me down and give me a lecture on morals."

Emily almost doubled over in laughter. "That would be a sight. Derek...giving Casey lectures on... _morals_!"

Casey crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "You are the worst friend ever."

Emily laughed harder, well-aware that Casey didn't mean it. "Yup, that's me. The worst friend in the world. I mean I woke up extra early to help you with your make-up and clothes so that you would snap the guy of your dreams back into the guy of your dreams, or however you want to phrase that."

"I love you."

"I know. Now stay still or you're going to have mascara on your forehead."

Casey started to nodded, but stopped halfway through the motion and became perfectly still. "There," Emily announced, stepping back with a flourish, "you are officially ready to tackle Plan F!"

Casey smiled nervously. "Okay." She grabbed her books and purse. "This feels weird."

Emily nodded, still admiring her handiwork. "Yeah, well, you're about to do something that is going to affect your entire family in a huge way. And you're doing it in a non-Casey wardrobe to boot."

"It's not that." Casey shook her head. "I've just never taken so few books to school before."

Emily laughed and hooked her arm through Casey's, leading her friend out the front door and towards the school. Things were going to be just fine, regardless of how nervous poor Casey was. She just knew it. Woman's intuition.

* * *

Casey sighed as she closed her locker. Today wasn't going nearly as badly as she had anticipated. Derek's eyes, along with those of most of the school's male population, had bugged and his jaw had dropped when he'd seen her in her babe raider outfit, but he hadn't done anything remotely Derek-like. The rest of the guys had, however. She'd gotten more catcalls and wolf whistles today then she could ever remember. She tensed as she felt a presence behind her. Praying that it was Derek coming to tell her to go put on some clothes before she made him sick (or something that the old Derek would have told her), she turned around.

She was greeted by the sight of three senior boys that she only knew vaguely from around school.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yeah," The tallest boy stuck out his hand. "My name's Ricky. You're Casey, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She noticed Derek watching them intently from a few feet away and inspiration struck. She beamed up at the blonde haired boy. "That's me." She giggled.

Ricky grinned, obviously encouraged by her sudden enthusiasm. "Well...I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go see a movie this weekend?" He gave her the same cocky smirk she'd received from Derek a million times before, but there was no playfulness behind his like there usually was behind Derek's.

"Well..." Casey put a finger to her chin and pretended to think. "Sure!" She chirped. "That sounds like fun!" She placed a hand on his chest and smiled flirtatiously. "But first you have to introduce me to your friends." She was trying very hard not to gag.

"Oh them," Ricky jerked his head towards the shorter black haired boy on his left. "That's John and he's Brandon." He motioned towards the brown haired boy on his right.

Casey smiled brightly at both them. "It's nice to meet you!" She giggled and gave them each a quick hug. She looked over at Derek to see that he did not look pleased. Hopefully this was working.

"What?" Ricky pretended to sound wounded. "No hug for me? I am your date after all."

"Huh? Oh yeah, of course." She gave him a hug. "Sorry." She tried to pull away but found that Ricky had yet to let her go. "Um..." She tried once more to wiggle out of grip, but found it impossible.

"I can't wait for our date Saturday." Ricky told, pretending to be oblivious to her struggle. "You were always such a spitfire. And now that you look so good, I can't wait to see how that translates into your bedroom skills."

"Excuse me?" Casey forgot all about the act she was supposed to be putting up. "If you're implying that you're asking me out because you think I'm an easy lay then you have another thing coming."

"Well," Ricky gave her a grin that sent unpleasant shivers down her spine. "We'll see about th-" He was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He released Casey and turned to face whoever was bothering him. "What?"

He was answered with a fist to the face.

* * *

"She called me again yesterday and we had, like, a two hour long conversation. The only reason we stopped talking was because mom called me down for dinner. I think it's getting serious."

Derek nodded, only half listening to Sam. He wanted to listen to his friend tell him about his wonderful new girlfriend, but Casey was being entirely too friendly with Ricky Walker. That boy was bad news...not to mention he didn't want Casey being overly friendly with any guy but _him_...until they got a chance to talk about everything.

"Dude..." Sam finally noticed his friend's lack of attention and followed the boy's gaze to where Casey had placed her hand on Ricky's chest.

By the time Casey was finished giving his two lackey's hugs, Derek's gaze could have burnt a hole in the wall. How dare she flirt with other boys when she owed him a nice long talk? And how dare Ricky flirt with Casey McDonald. Didn't that guy realize he wasn't nearly good enough for Casey? Just as he was about to turn around and storm off he noticed Casey's easy demeanor change. Her face, which had be home to a smile, suddenly melted into one of annoyance, insult, and the tiniest bit of fear.

As he watched Casey struggle to get out of Ricky's hold something inside Derek snapped.

No one messed with Casey, not when Derek was around. No one made her feel uncomfortable or scared. And, knowing Ricky, no one said the things he was implying about her. And no one, _absolutely_ no one, seriously flirted with Casey McDonald after Derek had declared her off-limits. As if that wasn't enough, the look on Casey's face sealed the deal.

The bastard was going _down_.

Derek quickly moved towards the four, just catching the end of Ricky's sentence. "We'll see about th-" He tapped him on the shoulder and waited for the boy to turn around. "What?"

He let his fist fly.

"Don't," He told the other boy menacingly, as he went stumbling back, clutching his nose. "talk to Casey again. _Ever_."

Ricky had a hand over his nose, trying to stop the blood flow. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem?" Derek resisted the urge to hit him again. "My problem is that you're making Casey uncomfortable. She doesn't want to talk with you anymore. And no one makes _my_Casey do something she doesn't want to do." He smirked. "Well...except me. But I know what my limits are."

They continued to stare each other down for a few more minutes before Ricky finally turned and stormed down the hallway, John and Brandon at his heels. Derek smirked again as the hallway erupted in cheers. He wasn't worried about getting in trouble. Ricky didn't hold alcohol very well, and he still had plenty of blackmail from the last party he'd gone to to keep the boy quiet for years.

As soon as Ricky was out of sight, he turned to face Casey. "You okay, Case?"

* * *

"You okay, Case?"

Casey looked at her stepbrother in shock. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered the fact that he had just called her Case for the first time since returning from the camp. It almost surprised her how much she missed the simple nickname. Before she had time to be properly surprised, however, a few things hit her all at once.

Derek had just punched a guy.

Derek had also just threatened a guy.

Derek was _back_!

"DEREK!" Casey squealed as she threw herself into her stepbrother's arms.

Derek staggered momentarily under the sudden weight. "Hey Case, nice to see you too."

Casey looked up at Derek. "You're really back, right?"

Derek looked confused. "Where did I go?" At Casey's look he grinned. "Oh, you mean is sappy, cry-baby Derek gone? Then yes, yes he is."

"Oh thank god!" Casey cried in joy.

"Hey!" Derek cried, insulted. "I was a very manly sappy, cry-baby Derek!"

"Oh god." Casey all but sobbed in relief. "You really _are_ back to normal!" Realization dawned in her eyes and she smacked Derek's arm. "And what were you thinking! Punching Ricky in the nose like that! You're going to get in trouble!"

"Relax. I've got more blackmail on that guy than I can keep track of, he isn't going to say a word. Besides _nobody_ talks to you like that, remember?"

There was a split second when Casey was sure she was going to cry. Instead, she smiled and threw her arms around Derek again and did her best to keep them behind her tightly shut eyelids. The old Derek didn't do tears, and never had she been so happy to be faced with that fact.

"You know," He told her, his arms still hanging limply at his side. "The only person besides a girlfriend that I have _ever_ hugged is Marti."

"Derek?" She told him, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and hug me."

Derek broke into a grin. "I guess I could manage...just this once." He wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"...And that was a lie."

Derek looked down at the girl still in his arms. "What?"

"That thing about Marti being the only person you've ever hugged beside your girlfriends."

"How is that?"

"You've hugged me quite a few times lately."

Derek looked down at Casey, still refusing to let go of her. "I did what?"

Casey laughed, her eyes sparkling. "Shut up." She leaned up and smashed her lips to his.

There was silence in the hallway as everyone waited with baited breath to see what was going to happen. According to a good portion of the school population, this event had been a long time coming and they were all eager to see how it played out. And... if it lessened the constant fighting between Derek and Casey? Well, that was just an added bonus.

There was another collective cheer as Derek buried his hands in Casey's hair and tried to pull her closer.

The two teens broke apart, Casey blushing like mad. "I'm sorry." She told him, the words just barely audible above the still cheering kids.

"What?"

She gestured to crowd around them. "You're PDA rule...I didn't even think. I completely disrespected you and I-"

Derek put a hand over her mouth, effectively silencing her. "Relax Case. This one time...I'll make an exception."

The way Casey was looking at Derek gave the rest of the students the idea that they needed to be left alone. They went about their business, comforted by the fact that there would be relative peace for at least a week.

Casey grinned up at Derek after checking out the now deserted hallway. "I've got to admit, this has been one heck of an adventure, but pretty much everything with you is an adventure."

Derek smirked back at her, lowering his face so that his lips were just inches hers. "I guess there's only one thing left to do now..."

Casey smiled, tilting her head slightly to bring them even closer together. "What's that?"

Derek let go of her and began backing down the empty hallway. "I need to go see my hockey coach."

Casey grinned again, very glad to hear those words leave Derek's mouth. "I'm sure you've just been dying inside."

Derek shrugged, attempting to look nonchalant and cool. "It's no big deal."

Casey eyed him and smirked. He stared her down for a few seconds before she shook her head, laughing lightly. "Just go already."

Derek smiled gratefully before turning and racing down the hallway at breakneck speed.

* * *

There is chapter 9! How many of you are cheering because Derek is finally back to his old self? And he's getting back on the hockey team! Woohoo! I hope the actual romance scene came out okay. It's really hard to do a Dasey actual get together moment and keep them in character. I hope I managed to pull it off. This is the first actual romance scene for them that I've written so...I hope it's good. Eh, you guys will tell me if it's not.

Stay tune for the final chapter where everyone greets the old Derek with open arms, Casey apologizes for sending him to the camp in the first place, and Derek realizes that maybe not _all_ of the new Derek was so terrible. Especially if Casey is going to reward him like _that_!

R&R, please! I'm so close to that goal of 200, I can practically taste it already!


	10. Epilogue

**Title:** Mr. Sensitive

**Summary:**Derek returns from a weeklong women appreciation retreat –Casey's idea- a changed man. At first everyone loves the new Derek, but eventually even Casey gets tired of Mr. Sensitive. Can she snap her stepbrother back into his old ways, or is 'Dereka' here to stay. .Dasey.

**Author:**Silverflare07  
**Dedication:**To Warlordess because she has to put up with me going on about Dasey and force shields and sock puppets that say Hola Georgie and she does it oh so gracefully. And because it's her birthday and since I can't buy her PKMN I'm writing about LWD.

**Author's Notes: **I originally got the idea from watching an episode of Family Guy, and if you've ever seen it you'll recognize the idea a bit. I promise that aside from the retreat and the new Derek nothing else is going to be taken from that episode. There will be no Derek trying to breast feed _anything_ or worrying about being 'late'.

**Extra Stuff:** Fair warning to everyone...after the first chapter Derek is going to be extremely OoC. This is totally intentional and has to be in order for the story to make sense. His OoCness is going to affect everyone a little but especially Casey; she'll get pretty OoC too. Not as badly as Derek though, I can promise that. So if you don't like OoCness in characters I suggest you turn back now, because you will not like this fic. If you don't mind then enjoy. I hope this fic makes you laugh when you read as much as it made me laugh while I was writing it.

**Stuff You Need To Know:**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

This chapter hasn't been beta'd either, I'm sorry about that. It's just that my poor, poor beta woman had to have some surgery (she's fine, don't worry) and she's all-blah from the drugs. Plus now that she isn't going to school anymore because of winter break, it'll be harder for her to get the chapter's betad. So please forgive any typo mistakes that my poor eyes have missed.

P.S. I LOVE you guys so much! You have all made me squeal with joy and I'm so glad you liked this fic!

* * *

"We're home!" Casey called out as she and Derek walked through the door, their hands separating as everyone piled into the living room to greet the eldest children.

"You guys are home awfully late. Where have you been?" Nora asked, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

"Sorry," Derek apologized.

"But Derek had to stay late to catch up on all the hockey team stuff he missed and I promised I'd wait for him." Casey finished.

Everyone did a double take. "Hockey?" George asked, sounding disbelieving.

"Yeah," Derek shrugged. "I haven't been on the team for about a month, I missed a lot of stuff."

"Y-you're back on the team?" Edwin asked, not daring to believe it, just in case.

"Of course!" Derek grinned. "What would the hockey team do without their captain?" His chest puffed out in pride. "Coach almost started to cry when I told him I wanted to rejoin the team."

Casey shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Alright," She gave Derek a shove towards the stairs. "Get upstairs, your _highness_, we're supposed to meet Sam and his new girlfriend for a double date in about an hour."

"Yeah, yeah Space Case," Derek laughed good-naturedly, jogging up the stairs. "I'm going. Any preference as to what I should wear?"

"Well...now that you mention it..." Casey's voice faded into the distance.

Edwin looked at Lizzie, George looked at Nora, and Marti looked at up at everyone. "You don't think..." Edwin started slowly.

"That he's back..." Nora finished.

"Der-_ek_!" Casey's screech, while not as annoyed as it could have been, floated down to them, music to their ears.

"YAY!" Marti cheered, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Woohoo!" Edwin cheered, grabbing Lizzie in a hug.

"Yes!" Lizzie grinned and hugged him back. A few seconds later they realized what they were doing and broke apart, blushing.

"That's a relief." George wrapped an arm around Nora, who was nodding in agreement, and pulled her close. "I was beginning to think he was going to be that way forever. I wonder how Casey snapped him back to normal though."

Nora shook her head, but the three youngest children shared a smile. "Let's not dwell on how it happened, Georgie. Let's just be thankful that it did."

George nodded. "You're right." He made his way back into the kitchen, Nora close behind him.

They continued preparing dinner in silence before Nora but down the knife she was using to cut the vegetables for the salad and looked at her husband.

"Did they say they were going to meet Sam and _Sam's_ girlfriend?"

* * *

Casey giggled as she and Derek walked back into the house. "Shh." Derek put a finger to his lips. They were about a half an hour later than their curfew and Derek didn't want to risk losing his hockey privileges so soon after rejoining the team.

Casey nodded and zipped her lips, assuring him of her silence. "I can't believe we're late." She whispered to him. "And I can't believe I don't _care_."

Derek nodded. "Yeah, that one confuses me a bit too," He whispered back. "But if Sam hadn't spent a good twenty minutes gushing about how happy he was that I was back, we wouldn't have had to go a see a later showing of the movie."

Casey smiled as they made their way up the stairs. "He wasn't gushing. And he didn't spend twenty minutes. Emily and Sheldon, who would've figured we run into them there, each spent some time enjoying the fact that you were back to normal. Not that they didn't already know."

"I think Emily was just squealing because you'd convinced me to pay."

"Hey," Casey smiled, "It's the guys job to pay for the lady. At least on the first date."

Derek perked up. "Does that mean there'll be a second? And that you'll pay?"

Casey shook her head, laughing silently at his face. "Ye-" She stopped mid thought as she noticed a yellow sticky note on her door. "What's this?" She plucked it off and Derek stood behind her, reading it aloud.

_Casey and Derek,_

_We're going to have a nice long chat tomorrow._

_Don't worry...you're not in trouble._

It was in Nora's handwriting, and underneath her note, in George's handwriting, was: _Casey, don't let Derek sucker you into _anything_. He'll pay for your second date and your third._

Casey let out a small chuckle as Derek read that part. "Your dad knows you too well."

Derek sighed. "Yeah he does." Suddenly, he perked up once more. "But he didn't say _anything_ about the fourth date."

Casey scoffed. "And what makes you think there's going to be a fourth date?"

"Pssh." Derek popped the collar on his leather jacket. "As if any girl could resist _the_ Derek Venturi."

Casey threw her arms around him again. "I am _so_ glad that you're back!"

Derek smiled down at the girl before him. "Night Case." He kissed her then, slow and sweet, and nothing like the fiery kiss they'd shared in the hallway but just as wonderful.

"Night Derek." Casey whispered breathlessly when they parted.

They both walked into their respective rooms, grinning. They were both going to be enjoying their dreams tonight.

* * *

"Hey Derek?" Derek looked up from his hockey game. "I need to tell you something."

Derek looked between the T.V. and Casey. "Can it wait? I'm right in the middle of a game."

Casey huffed and shook her head. "No. It really can't. I want to do this before everyone gets home."

Derek sighed and turned off the T.V. "Fine, but only for you."

Casey beamed and sat on the edge of the coffee table so that she was in front of him. "I'm sorry." She told him, her voice very serious.

Derek blinked, confused. "Okay...you don't generally apologize to me even when you've done something worth apologizing for. What's up?"

Case shook her head. "I'm sorry for sending you to that camp."

"Oh." Derek looked thoughtful so Casey rushed on.

"I never meant for you to change completely like that! Honestly, that wasn't my intention. I just wanted you to come back a little nicer." She looked down at the floor. "It hurt that all you did was pick on me," she told him, her voice small. "I just wanted you to appreciate me."

Derek looked at the girl in front of him, her entire being wracked with guilt, and felt any anger he may have harbored melt away. "It's okay Casey." She looked up at him. "I know that deep down you didn't mean for any of that to happen. Let's just agree that next time you're that furious at me we'll just try couples' therapy instead."

Casey laughed lightly and he grinned, pulling her into a hug. "Deal." She told him, her voice muffled by his shirt. "Paul always loved our sessions anyways."

Derek grinned and then got up, moving to the couch and pulling Casey down next to him so he could wrap his arm around her shoulder. She slid into the spot next to him obediently, laying her head on his shoulder as he turned the hockey game back on.

"So..." He looked down to meet her gaze. "What actually happened at that camp?"

Derek shook his head. "I don't feel like talking about it. Besides, if I'm forced to relive my experience I may have a relapse and we wouldn't want that."

Casey shook her head furiously. "No, we definitely don't."

Derek grinned and turned his attention back to the game. "Oh," He shifted his gaze back down to Casey. "I made that for you." He pointed at the coffee table and Casey noticed a smoothie sitting on it for the first time. "It's to congratulate your for landing the greatest guy in all of Canada." At Casey's raised eyebrow he smiled sheepishly. "And...because I know you like them."

"Aw, thank you." She cooed, remembering their shopping trip. "Look at you being Mr. Sensitive."

"Hey!" Derek cried indigently.

Casey laughed. "A very _manly_ Mr. Sensitive." She leaned up and gave him a kiss that thoroughly distracted him from any name she may have called him _and_ the hockey game that was one T.V.

"Is that how you're going to thank me every time I do something nice for you?" He asked breathlessly, the T.V. remote slipping from his loose grip.

Casey smirked. "Maybe..."

"Well," He brought his face closer to hers once more. "I guess "Mr. Sensitive" can make an appearance once in a while."

Casey nodded in agreement.

"As long as he doesn't ask me for my bubble bath _ever_ again."

* * *

It's done! Oh man, I think I'm going to cry. It's actually finished. I hope you guys liked the epilogue. I wanted to tie up a few loose ends, like Casey apologizing for sending Derek to the camp in the first place. She honestly doesn't strike me as the type of person who would have sent him there if she'd known it would change him completely. Plus I wanted George and Nora to know that they were dating, they don't strike me as the type of people who would be angry with them or against the idea. They would definitely have to set some ground rules though (it _is_ Derek after all).

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And thanks for sticking with me until the end! You're the reason I write, so here's to you!


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